Attorneys clear issues before opening statements

Originally published June 21, 2013 at 12:00 am

Updated June 21, 2013 at 5:52 am

With six female jurors now seated to consider whether George Zimmerman committed murder when he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, prosecutors and defense attorneys turn Friday to unresolved issues before next week's opening trial statements.

With six female jurors now seated to consider whether George Zimmerman committed murder when he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, prosecutors and defense attorneys turn Friday to unresolved issues before next week’s opening trial statements.

The female jurors were chosen Thursday for the second-degree murder trial of Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer who says he fired on the unarmed black teenager in self-defense last year in a gated community in Sanford. Zimmerman is pleading not guilty.

Opening statements are scheduled Monday. But pending issues to be resolved Friday include whether an audio expert can testify for the prosecution that screams for help captured on a 911 call belong to Martin. Circuit Judge Debra Nelson said she would make a decision Friday. Defense attorneys don’t want the expert to testify, claiming his analysis is flawed.

The jury’s selection Thursday followed nearly two weeks in which potential jurors were quizzed by attorneys about their views on firearms, crime, race and self-defense.

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“We’ve got a jury, which is great!” said defense attorney Mark O’Mara after jurors were sworn in Thursday. “We found six jurors that said they’ll be fair, they’ll be impartial and most important not allow any external pressures, sympathy, biases, political expediency to affect the way they’re going to look at the evidence.”

Prosecutors have refused to comment for the duration of the trial. In a statement, attorneys representing Martin’s parents said they expected the jurors to be fair and impartial.

“This case has always been about equal justice,” they said. “Equal justice under the law is not a black value or a white value. It’s an American value. “

Prosecutors have said Zimmerman, 29, racially profiled Martin as he walked back through the central Florida community from a convenience store on a rainy night in February 2012 wearing a dark hooded shirt.

Race and ethnicity have played a prominent role in the case and even clouded jury selection. While the court did not release the racial makeup of the jury, the panel appeared to reporters covering the selection process to be made up of five white women and a sixth who may be Hispanic.

Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.

Two of the jurors recently moved to the area – one from Iowa and one from Chicago – and two are involved with rescuing animals as their hobbies.

One juror had a prior arrest, but she said it was disposed of and she thought she was treated fairly. Two jurors have guns in their homes. All of their names have been kept confidential and the panel will be sequestered for the trial.

The central Florida community of Sanford is in Seminole County, which is 78.5 percent white and 16.5 percent black.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys chose the panel of six jurors after nearly two weeks of jury selection. In Florida, 12 jurors are required only for criminal trials involving capital cases, when the death penalty is being considered.

If convicted, Zimmerman could face a potential life sentence.

On Feb. 26, 2012, Zimmerman spotted Martin, whom he did not recognize, walking in the gated townhome community in Sanford where Zimmerman lived and the fiancee of Martin’s father also resided. There had been a rash of recent break-ins at the Retreat, and Zimmerman was wary of strangers walking through the complex.

The two eventually got into a struggle and Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest with his 9mm handgun. He was charged 44 days after the shooting, only after a special prosecutor was appointed to review the case and after protests.

Martin’s shooting death and the initial decision not to charge Zimmerman led to public outrage and demonstrations around the nation, with some accusing Sanford police of failing to thoroughly investigate the shooting.

The six jurors were culled from a pool of 40 candidates who made it into a second round of jury questioning. Two men and two women also were picked as alternate jurors.